Campfire: Post Europe Training

by **bobheckler** Thu Oct 11, 2012 11:13 am

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4697778/camp-fire-playoff-practice-for-cs

WALTHAM, Mass. -- Celtics coach Doc Rivers welcomed his team home from a
weeklong European adventure by stretching out their lungs Wednesday
with a spirited two-and-a-half-hour, cardio-heavy practice.

Kevin Garnett

dubbed it a "playoff practice" given the physical nature on the court
and Rivers' penchant for cardio work. And while Rivers laughed off the
notion that it was playoff caliber, he admitted it was a good return to
camp normalcy for his squad.

"We just ran them a lot and we did a lot of stuff. It was a hard
practice, but I thought we needed it off the trip," Rivers said. "We
took two days off, which we would never do in training camp, and I think
we have to get in better shape. With all that, you have a hard
practice."

Rivers noted how, while the trip to Turkey and Milan was good from a
bonding perspective, the basketball activities were somewhat shortened
due to the lengthy travel. Rivers reacclimatized his players to camp
basketball on Wednesday.

"I think today was just a conditioning practice,"
Rajon Rondo said. "A lot of conditioning. Non-stop, short breaks. But we needed it. Especially off of the long plane ride."

Rivers added, "We had some good practices over there, we had a
couple of them. But overall, everything was shorter, you had to be
careful because guys were still jet-lagged. The trip was a good trip for
us. Now we can get back to work."

A handful of notes from Wednesday's session:

* Rivers didn't reveal much on
Chris Wilcox,
who sat out again and hasn't been on the floor since taking a hard hit
in the Celtics' first official practice on Sept. 29. "Sore back," Rivers
said. "Other than that, I don’t really know."

*
Avery Bradley
wore a practice uniform and was spotted observing from the baseline
when practice opened to reporters, but Rivers said he is still nowhere
close to contact activities. "He’s a ways away," Rivers said. "He hasn’t
been doing anything with us."

* The team closed practice with players running skeleton offensive
sets up and down the court. The first unit, as it was during Sunday's
game in Milan, featured Garnett, Rondo,
Paul Pierce, Jason Terry and rookie Jared Sullinger.
Rivers didn't shy away from the idea that Sullinger could be a starter
when the season opens later this month and said the team is exploring
numerous options, including multiple starting lineups. That could
include one grouping with Darko Milicic
at center and Garnett sliding back to power forward to ease the wear
and tear on the veteran big man early in the season. "There’s a lot of
thought, we may go to a transitional lineup, have three different
lineups," Rivers said. "We put a lot of thought into it, we’ll just
figure it out."

* Rivers on his favorite moment from the trip: "Oh gosh, I don’t
know. There’s a lot of little ones. I don’t know if I had one favorite
moment. I think when I put that first piece of pasta in my mouth in
Milan, that might have been my favorite moment. That was terrific. The
restaurant I went to was unbelievable. I actually tried to get my
coaches to go for lunch the next day and dinner the next day."

* Rondo on his favorite moment: "Milan." Pressed on why, he added: "Just Milan. What happens in -- nah, I'm just playing."

* After Rondo called Sullinger the most intelligent rookie during
his time in Boston, he was asked if that included himself. Rondo smiled
and quipped again, "Oh, no, I think I'm the smartest player."

* Garnett emerged from the weight room to conduct his post-practice
interview, but a camera man was in his path to his preferred spot to
sit. A playful Garnett winded up like a softball pitcher and delivered a
monster pat on the backside that left an entire pack of reporters
jumping. After his chat with the media, Garnett checked back on the
cameraman and, informed he was doing just fine, quipped, "Go ice your
[backside], bro."

bob

.

by **bobheckler** Thu Oct 11, 2012 7:39 pm

More on camp 10/11.

WALTHAM, Mass. -- The Boston Celtics were back on the practice floor
Thursday afternoon, but it might have been the two guys unable to go
through the brunt of the session that were of heightened interest. Both
Avery Bradley (shoulders) and Chris Wilcox (back) came onto the court to
get up shots following the two-hour practice and said their recoveries
are going well, even if Doc Rivers cautioned that neither is close to a
return to action.

Chris Forsberg/Greg Payne/ESPN BostonChris Wilcox (left) and Avery Bradley (right) get up shots on Thursday.*
Bradley said he engaged in conditioning exercises for the first time
since undergoing double shoulder surgery and remains optimistic that he
is ahead of the mid-December timeline that Rivers reaffirmed Thursday.

"I feel a lot better," said Bradley. "I didn’t think I’d be feeling
as good as I do right now. Especially because I had [the right] shoulder
done a little later. Right now I feel good. I started conditioning
today, started lifting with the strength coach today, so I feel great. I
feel like we’re moving forward, like we’re supposed to."

So what does he think of Rivers' mid-December timeline?

"That's what they have right now, but we just have to take it
day-by-day, see how I’m feeling," said Bradley. "I’m ahead of schedule
now, so you never know."

Bradley admitted his shot was rusty, but said he's encouraged by
being able to get up shots again over the past two weeks. He's still not
cleared for contact and is avoiding anything that could aggravate his
shoulders.

"You don’t want any setbacks, so I try to stay away from contact,"
he said. "I don’t do anything I’m not supposed to be doing, like dunking
the ball, even thought I want to sometimes because I feel so good. I
try not to have any setbacks and so far I don’t have any. I’m on the
right path."

* Wilcox said he's been battling back spasms, the result of a hard
hit endured on the second day of training camp. He admitted he's anxious
to get back on the floor, but is taking it slow and Rivers deemed him
"a ways away."

Wilcox underwent an MRI earlier this week on his injured back that confirmed the spasms.

"[Tests] came back and they just told me I had to take my time,"
said Wilcox, whose 2011-12 season ended in March when an enlarged aorta
was detected. "I'm just six months out of [heart] surgery, so I got back
out here, everything was feeling so good and I missed the game so much,
I'm just off here playing off of adrenaline. My body just wasn't all
the way healed, but, at the end of the day, every day it's getting
better for me and I'm just going to take my time."

Pressed for a timeline, Wilcox noted: "I don't know. I leave that up
to the trainers, and, now, like I said, they just want me to get in
shape and get back healthy so I won't have to miss any more practices or
game situations."

* The Celtics appear relatively healthy beyond Bradley and Wilcox.
Center Darko Milicic sported a wrap over his right hand after taking a
hit in Wednesday's practice, but wasn't overly concerned.

"I'm just going to ice it down a little bit and get some medicine," said Milicic. "It's going to be fine."

* Milicic has entertained reporters with his open
and honest responses (often littered with hilariously bleep-able
language). For instance, asked if he enjoyed the team's trip to Europe,
the Serbian said he did not enjoy the travel.

"We had to stop in [expletive] Iceland to refuel. That was
terrible," said Milicic. "I mean, especially that I came from there. I
lived there, so I came from there five or six days before, and then came
back again. Switched those time zones two times, I mean, I don't even
know what is day or night, or what day, what year. I mean, we're all
tired, but especially me, kind of changing the time zones and coming
back again. But, I'm adjusting right now."

* Rivers said that picking an end-of-the-game lineup isn't nearly as
daunting as it seems considering Boston's current Big Three (Rajon
Rondo, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett) will be on the floor. Rivers also
hinted that Jeff Green would often be part of the grouping to handle
the final six minutes.

"It’s not as difficult as you think, it comes down to the right
two," said Rivers. "Jeff Green, and another guard or another big. It
might be the right one [because] Jeff Green, for the most part, might be
on the floor as well. It comes down to that fifth guy, and is it going
to be another big to go big? Another guard to go small? There’s a lot of
options."

bob

.

by **cowens/oldschool** Fri Oct 12, 2012 11:15 am

Interesting so if we go BIG then I gotta think, the top 2 choices would be Darko or Sully with Pierce as the 2. Rondo Pierce Green Sully KG or Rondo Pierce Green KG Darko? gotta like them both. Smallball gotta be Rondo AB/Jet Pierce Green KG, Doc is talking of commiting to getting Jeff Green on the floor, must be a reason, but already I'm seeing he can do pretty much everything that Danny Granger or Luol Deng can do and hes a few years younger....give or take a few rebounds.

We can also whip out a rest Big 3 lineup of AB Lee Green Bass/Sully Darko/Fab/Collins, how about one of them? AB Jet Pierce Sully Darko/Fab/Collins or Rondo AB Green Bass Sully/Darko or AB/Jet Lee Green Bass/Sully KG? gonna be fun watching Doc figure all this out, mixing and matching.

by **Sam** Fri Oct 12, 2012 11:28 am

Cow,

Personally, I would nix any lineup in which Bradley plays point guard. He got the hang of playing in the NBA in a relatively short time, but a knack for running a team seldom or never happens quickly.

Sam

by **cowens/oldschool** Fri Oct 12, 2012 11:34 am

Sam

Don't you want his defense on the floor? he can still defend/harass/disrupt the points while Rondos resting. I'm not expecting him to be Rondo on offense distributing, remember when Rondo would just bring the ball up and get it to KG or Pierce and stand in the corner and we were clamouring for Doc to let Rondo do more? AB is a combo guard, the only way to get better at the point is to play the point, kids 21 he can still figure it out.

cow

by **Sam** Fri Oct 12, 2012 12:33 pm

Cow,

No, I don't want his defense on the floor at the expense of offense. Almost any five the Celtics put on the floor will have at least satisfactory defense. But, with Bradley at PG, I don't believe they'd have satisfactory offense. Avery is specifically NOT a combo guard. He's a SG only, and I've seen more than enough of him at the point to doubt he could ever learn the position well enough to run the team. He never, never, never advances the ball when at PG, just the same as Pruitt.

Sam

by **bobheckler** Fri Oct 12, 2012 3:15 pm

ESPN comments on camp 10/12.

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4697830/camp-fire-cs-still-focused-on-themselves

WALTHAM, Mass. -- The Celtics might be taking on their first NBA
opponent of the preseason on Saturday night when they square off against
the New York Knicks in Hartford, Conn., but coach Doc Rivers is still keeping the focus on
his own team. The typical pregame preparations employed during the
regular season were absent from Boston's practice session on Friday
afternoon.

"It's preseason. I don't think we've mentioned the Knicks one time,"
said Rivers. "We'll talk about them a little bit tomorrow, since we're
playing them. But, I'm more worried about us. If this was a regular
season game, obviously today we would have went over their sets and all
that, but this is preseason, so we're worried about us right now."

Though Boston hasn't prepped for New York in any significant way,
Kevin Garnett noted that a sense of familiarity is already in place.

"We're familiar with the teams we're playing, personnel, coaching
style, the rules. Those are some of the things that just come off the
top," Garnett said of the differences of playing an NBA opponent versus a
European one. "Obviously, overseas was a great experience for us, a
great test to some of the things we've been working on in training camp.
And, like you said, now it's time for what we know and being familiar
with some of the things that we know.

"The things we're going to see, [we can] familiarize ourselves with
some of the sets, some of the, obviously, styles of play, personnel. A
lot of teams have changed as far as personnel, so from that standpoint,
if you want to call that a test, sure."

Rivers said he hasn't settled on a starting lineup for Saturday's
game, though he's begun discussions with his coaching staff. When the
final minutes of practice were made available to the media, the Green
Team, a.k.a. the starters, consisted of Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Jason Terry, Courtney Lee, Brandon Bass and Kevin Garnett, so it's likely five of those six players will comprise Saturday's first unit. Rookie Jared Sullinger, who started in Boston's second game of the preseason against Armani
Milano, was back in the white practice jersey worn by the reserves.

While the opening days of camp were dedicated to implementing the
most basic of the team's sets, Rivers said the second and third weeks
bring about a different focus.

"For us, offensive pace is something we've really focused on these
last three days," Rivers explained. "Taking care of the ball. We've been
doing a lot of turnover drills, which players don't like, but there's a
certain amount of turnovers and there's running involved. So,
offensively, those are the two things. And defensively, just working on
getting everybody on the same page."

Other notes from Friday's session:

* There was no update on forward Chris Wilcox, who continues to recover from lower back spasms. Rivers said he hasn't
asked about Wilcox, and likely won't until he's ready to return to the court.

* Bass on potentially coming off of the bench this season: "I have
no comment on that question. No comment. We're going to keep getting
better every day. We have to get better as a team, and I think Doc will
make the best decision for the team."

bob

.

by **cowens/oldschool** Sat Oct 13, 2012 11:11 am

Sam

Well last year you wanted to get rid of Bradley outright, remember? how'd that work out? I wouldn't trade this kid even up for Dwayne Wade right now.

cow

by **Sam** Sat Oct 13, 2012 3:01 pm

Cow, it worked out fine; thanks for asking. I wanted to get rid of him as a PG, which is what Doc did. So what's your point?

After weeing him in many fewer games as a SG, I liked him in that position because—aside from his defense even on bigger guys—he quickly developed "go to" SG offensive moves, which he never did in much more time as a PG.

Comparing his PG experience with his SG experience is totally apples and oranges, which have absolutely nothing to do with his lack of aptitude for the PG position.

Sam

by **cowens/oldschool** Sat Oct 13, 2012 5:43 pm

Sam I didn't know last year you said point exclusively, I just remember you wanted to trade him, anyway you have your opinion, obviously you made your point clear, mine begs to differ. cow

by **Sam** Sat Oct 13, 2012 10:58 pm

Cow,

I didn't say point exclusively. But point was virtually the only position I had seen him play at the time when I said it, so it was sort of understood. Same thing! He just can't run a team. He just can't make the guys around him better. From what I've seen, the roles to which he's best suited are to disrupt (hopefully the opposition, not his own team) and to be a catch-and-shoot guy.—both on the baseline and from the perimeter and mid-range.

Sam

by **cowens/oldschool** Sat Oct 13, 2012 11:32 pm

Sam

I loved this kids defense in brief stretches his rookie year when he barely played, before Ray went down and AB got his shot I still loved his burst, atleticism and defense.....I knew there was something there, so I was still for keeping him and seeing him develop. To me hes still a combo guard, hes proved he can play the 2 and defend the 1 and 2, we'll see how it goes....I just want to see him fully healthy and stay that way, hopefully kid will just be a baskrtball player.

cow

by **Sam** Sun Oct 14, 2012 11:21 am

Cow,

I agree, I hope he's fully recovered as soon as possible.

Sam

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